title: NATO survey of mental health training in army recruits.
abstract: To-date, there has been no international review of mental health resilience training during Basic Training nor an assessment of what service members perceive as useful from their perspective. In response to this knowledge gap, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Human Factors & Medicine Research & Technology Task Group "Mental Health Training" initiated a survey and interview with seven to twenty recruits from nine nations to inform the development of such training (N = 121). All nations provided data from soldiers joining the military as volunteers, whereas two nations also provided data from conscripts. Results from the volunteer data showed relatively consistent ranking in terms of perceived demands, coping strategies, and preferences for resilience skill training across the nations. Analysis of data from conscripts identified a select number of differences compared to volunteers. Subjects also provided examples of coping with stress during Basic Training that can be used in future training; themes are presented here. Results are designed to show the kinds of demands facing new recruits and coping methods used to overcome these demands to develop relevant resilience training for NATO nations.
authors.affiliation: US Army Medical Research Unit-Europe, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Nachrichten Kaserne, Karlsruherstrasse 144, 06126 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Amy B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Adler
authors.forename: Roos
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Delahaij
authors.forename: Suzanne M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van den Berge
authors.forename: Merle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parmak
authors.forename: Barend
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van Tussenbroek
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Puente
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Landratova
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kral
authors.forename: Guenter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kreim
authors.forename: Deirdre
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rietdijk
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McGurk
authors.forename: Carl Andrew
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Castro
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007390:International Agencies; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D020380:Needs Assessment; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult